Up from the bed of the river
God scooped the clay;
And by the bank of the river
He kneeled Him down;
And there the great God Almighty
Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
Who flung the stars to the to the most far corner of the night,
Who rounded the earth in the middle of His hand;
This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust Toiling over a lump of clay
Till He shaped it in His own image;
God's Beautiful Creation
Introduction
The Creation was written in 1920 by James Weldon Johnson, a man who
wrote several well-know poems, essays, and collections of folklore. It is
part of a book titled The Book Of American Negro Poetry which is a
recompilation of poems that Johnson gather from African American authors
of the Harlem Renaissance time period. According to Bartleby.com this poem
is a negro sermon. This probably means that when Johnson was writting this
poem he was trying to teach the African Americans a valuable lesson. What was it?
Analysis
I believe the lesson Johnson wants us to understand is narrowed down in this
stanza. The lesson is that when God created the man to His image he did not
specify what race he was so, therefore, we humans should not care either. We
should all treat each other equally just like God did at the beginning of his
creation. Johnson wanted people to understand this message. He wanted to
make it clear that even though there was a lot of racism going on at this time
period, for God it did not matter. When God created the earth and then the man
he just wanted to get rid of the feeling of loneliness he felt in his heart because
only until he created the man he was truly satisfied with himself. This also shows
how important we are to him. He values us so much and demonstrates this to us
every single day by making the sun come up every morning, and by at night
giving us the moon and stars so we can still have a bit of light.
God Loves each and every one of Us.
Then God reached out and took the light in His hands,
And God rolled the light around in His hands
Until He made the sun;
Excerpt from "The Creation"
by James Weldon Johnson
Up from the bed of the river
God scooped the clay;
And by the bank of the river
He kneeled Him down;
And there the great God Almighty
Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
Who flung the stars to the to the most far corner of the night,
Who rounded the earth in the middle of His hand;
This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till He shaped it in His own image;
God's Beautiful Creation
Introduction
The Creation was written in 1920 by James Weldon Johnson, a man who
wrote several well-know poems, essays, and collections of folklore. It is
part of a book titled The Book Of American Negro Poetry which is a
recompilation of poems that Johnson gather from African American authors
of the Harlem Renaissance time period. According to Bartleby.com this poem
is a negro sermon. This probably means that when Johnson was writting this
poem he was trying to teach the African Americans a valuable lesson. What was it?
Analysis
I believe the lesson Johnson wants us to understand is narrowed down in this
stanza. The lesson is that when God created the man to His image he did not
specify what race he was so, therefore, we humans should not care either. We
should all treat each other equally just like God did at the beginning of his
creation. Johnson wanted people to understand this message. He wanted to
make it clear that even though there was a lot of racism going on at this time
period, for God it did not matter. When God created the earth and then the man
he just wanted to get rid of the feeling of loneliness he felt in his heart because
only until he created the man he was truly satisfied with himself. This also shows
how important we are to him. He values us so much and demonstrates this to us
every single day by making the sun come up every morning, and by at night
giving us the moon and stars so we can still have a bit of light.
God Loves each and every one of Us.
Then God reached out and took the light in His hands,
And God rolled the light around in His hands
Until He made the sun;
Bibliography
"James Weldon Johnson." Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 12 May 2009. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 14 May 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Weldon_Johnson>.
"Harlem Renaissance." Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 20 May 2009. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 20 May 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance>
"The Creation." Bartleby. 2009. 13 May 2009 <http://www.bartleby.com/269/41.html>.
"The Creation." Poetry Archive. 19 May 2009 <http://www.poetry-archive.com/j/the_creation.html>.